No one expected Sony’s announcement of the PS Vita TV during their pre-TGS press conference; it was a move that surprised gamers in the East as well as the West.

So far, Sony’s newly announced micro-console has been met with much acclaim and demand in its home country, with Amazon Japan selling out of pre-orders for both the standard and value pack editions just mere days after the device was made official.

Since the PS Vita TV is currently only being offered in Japan, the rest of the world can only watch and wait, but we may see similar trends across Europe and North America as well.

The innovative and curious micro-console has been met with optimism from the gaming sphere, and this is in no small part due to the device’s promised features–which are quite impressive and may lead to a new generation of supplementary or standalone micro-consoles.

Sony has confirmed that PS Vita TV has a variety of functions, offering multiple entertainment solutions in one convenient and compact form.

The micro-console has been touted to not only play PS Vita games on a television-and-controller setup utilizing a wireless DualShock 3, it can also access digital streaming networks like Hulu and even access PS One titles via the PlayStation Network.

Additionally the PS Vita TV can play PS4 games via Remote Play–a feature that has been a staple of the next-gen console’s supplemental ecosystem with the PS Vita (and smartphone & tablet support) which brings a myriad of potential opportunities for Sony.

Japan has caught on–and the rest of the world will most likely follow suit when the micro-console comes overseas. With the introduction of the PS Vita TV, Sony might have just kicked off a new age of affordable all-in-one mini-consoles which was originally tested out by devices like the Ouya.

Also with Gaikai rolling out next year, it will be interesting to see if Sony has any plans to integrate the PS Vita with the cloud-based network–and what options it will afford if so.

While we didn’t see anything about the rumored PS4 virtual reality headset during the conference, this announcement was enjoyable all the same.

Sony’s new micro-console is slated to release on Nov. 14, 2013 in Japan for a price point of 9480 yen ($100) with a value pack offering retailing around 14994 yen ($150). No firm release information has been revealed regarding when the PS Vita TV will make its way to the rest of the world.

For a full run-down of the device including specs and more, be sure to check out our recent coverage.